Complex But Not Complicated

To me, the best games are the ones with rules that provide a structure for making moves towards victory, then get out of the way and let you play. I don't like games where an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules gives an advantage, and I can't stand games where it's possible to win on a technicality. The advantage should come with the ability to understand the consequences of making a particular play, like thinking several moves ahead in chess.

Twilight Struggle is a good game for that reason. It gives players a relatively simple set of options on their turn, primarily by playing cards for one of two purposes: either to spread their influence on the board, or to enact a more specific game effect that targets a particular location or gives some other in-game advantage. Simple options, but a lot to think about and try to plan for.

In Twilight Struggle, two players vie for control of the world during the Cold War of 1945-1989. The board represents a map of the world, with players placing competing levels on influence in the various countries depicted with an eye towards controlling particular regions. Scoring cards are played at various points in the game, so the goal is to set up your influence to take advantage of the scoring cards you have, but also to anticipate what your opponent is trying to do based on where they are placing their influence.

Another option each turn is to spend cards to progress with the Space Race. Achieving space-based advances does give an advantage, especially to whichever player gets to each milestone first, so (much like in the real world at the time) it's something that can't just be ignored. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but in all of our plays we've found the space race to be an annoying distraction due to the amount of time a player needs to spend on it and the random, hard to predict results. I wonder if the military commanders of the time felt the same way?

There is also a Military Operations track which requires both players to engage in roughly the same amount of aggressive military action each turn, an interesting balancing mechanic that slyly represents the sabre-rattling and chest-thumping that often occurs between world powers. However, too much military action will advance the DefCon marker, and if it gets pushed too far nuclear war breaks out and the game immediately ends. This is where the real brilliance of this game lies, and where it perfectly reflects the world it takes place in, as the two players constantly need to look at how far they can push things without going too far.

Like the best strategy games, Twilight Struggle gives you a lot to think about during play, without bogging you down in complicated rules that need to constantly be referred to. The strategy and maneuvering

It's a great game design for what it is trying to do, and you could even argue that it's educational, sparking the imagination about this unique period in world history. Unfortunately the game's presentation is more textbook than Hollywood blockbuster, and the game's graphic design is very...utilitarian, which is what I think has held this game back from gaining a wider spotlight. On the other hand, it has been in print continuously for 15 years, so I suppose it's finding its audience.

Rating: 4 (out of 5) It's a 2-player game that takes a while to play so it doesn't come out that often, but we always enjoy it in spite of its somewhat dry presentation.

• Twilight Struggle official website
• Twilight Struggle on BoardGameGeek

Back? Well, I Never Actually Went Away.

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Blimey, been a long time since I looked at this, lots has happened, both in life and in wargaming.
Anyway, I will be re-visiting this blog. Maybe not as much as I did seven (7!!) years ago, but I feel now it would be fun to do a bit from time to time.
The main reason for not keeping this blog up was that I'd pretty much run out of puff, so, hopefully now I should be able to capitalise on having had a long break to come up with a few things that some folk might be interested in.

Nazis for Big COC currently on the workbench

Storium Theory: Inaction In Action

Sometimes, I see players make comments in a game, explaining why they haven't made a move in a challenge so far:

"I don't think this is something my character knows how to deal with."

"I'm not sure she cares about this."

"I think he's just kind of stunned right now.

"She doesn't know what to do."

Sometimes these are indications of a problem in the story - if all of a narrator's players are telling him their characters don't care about the current situation, it is probably time to revise the situation and figure out how to better relate it to the story at hand.

But...more often, they're a statement that is actually pointing directly at a very interesting opportunity for the character: A chance to make inaction your action.

When you're writing the story of a challenge, things are happening, whether your character is acting on them or not. Each move drives the timeline of the challenge forward. When a card is played, something happens, and the challenge moves positively or negatively, or just towards the end of its story.

So...if your character, for instance, doesn't know how to deal with something, and chooses not to act...that's a choice. And that's his "action" for that moment in the tale.

So let it be an action! Make your move! Show your character's uncertainty or confusion about what to do! Show how your character hasn't cared about the situation, if that's the case, and chooses to ignore it! Show how the situation has left your character stunned, or how he's tired and needs rest, or how his injuries prevent him from joining the battle!

Sometimes, those things are treated as reasons not to make a move, but...that's not what they should be. They are, in fact, excellent opportunities to make moves.

Especially...especially...if you have either Weakness cards to play, or a Subplot.

I'm stunned. I'm confused. I'm shell-shocked. I'm injured. I'm exhausted. I just plain don't care about this.

Those are all excellent weakness plays.

When a situation is ongoing and your character chooses not to do anything about it, that's a great opportunity to show what starts going wrong with the situation because your character is not preventing it. Philosophically, there's nothing really different here from if things start to go wrong and your character tries to prevent it and fails because of a Weakness, right? Something goes wrong either way. The difference is just that your character, in this case, didn't do something to stop it instead of doing something but getting it wrong.

What about Subplots? Well, Subplots are great for these situations too! When a character is shocked into inaction, when she finds something she doesn't care about, when he struggles to understand what he's supposed to do in a situation...those are great times to explore the other mysteries in a character's life or the things the character does care about. There are some excellent subplot moves available that show how the character withdraws into themselves, or starts thinking about how all this ties in with their personal problems, or tries to examine where they are right now...and because of all that, something starts to happen in the current situation, and they're not really sure what to do in the face of it...or even if they should do something.

A subplot isn't a weakness play, mind, so chances are nothing ends up going outright wrong right away, but you can certainly hint that something will! While your character is distracted by his own thoughts, or full of self-doubt, or struggling with what he's supposed to do, or disinterested in what is happening, how does the situation evolve?

If your character doesn't seem certain of what's going on, or doesn't know what to do, or just plain doesn't care...don't just drop out of the challenge. Use that to advance the challenge.

Now...one more point on this. Especially in the case of a character that "doesn't care" about a challenge, this can actually be a great way to figure out what would make them care, and therefore explain how a Strength comes into play, or at least how they get involved in the challenge despite their feelings. If you find yourself thinking that your character just wouldn't get involved for some reason or another, put a little time into thinking about what might happen because of that decision.

Then, write a move based on that...and maybe, maybe midway through the move, you'll realize the character now does know what to do, or does care about the situation, as she sees what is about to happen, or starts watching something she does care about slip away.

Maybe that leads to the character using a Strength and turning things around after all. Or maybe the character ends up doubling down on fear or uncertainty, or just takes the wrong action, using a Weakness. Or maybe, the character's Subplot drives him forward, making him engage with the challenge now that he's seen what it could mean if he doesn't.

Now...this isn't something you need to pull in all the time. (And to be clear, if you find yourself constantly trying to figure out why your character would get involved in something, it may be time to talk to the narrator about how to make your character mesh better with the story.) But there are times when an inability to think about something that your character would do can itself be precisely what drives the story forward and makes an interesting situation.

Don't overuse this, but...keep it in the toolbox. It's a handy trick to pull out and it can lead to some astonishingly interesting moments for a character if used properly.

Remember Spider-Man and Uncle Ben...sometimes, when your character doesn't take action, that ends up driving his story more than anything else.

The Inspirations Of Oceanhorn 2: Knights Of The Lost Realm - Part 2

In the second part of our Inspirations series, we sat down with Claudio, Cornfox Producer, and Level Designer. "My tasks range from managing partners relationships to designing the dungeons in the game. Cornfox is a small company, we all multitask."

Claudio grew up in Brazil, a country where high import duties never stopped the gaming scene in the 80s and 90s from resembling its US counterpart. Arcades, PC games, and consoles were popular, and kids spent their afternoons switching between NES, SNES, Megadrive, and MSX.

"Soon SEGA, Nintendo and other manufacturer started to build their consoles directly in Brazil. That way, duties weren't really an issue." Claudio spent the last 20 years developing games, moving from Brazil to Germany to Portugal. Six years ago he finally landed in Finland. "I met the Cornfox guys at various local game events. After a while, we realized we were aligned in tastes and philosophy, and that's how this adventure started."

When asked about the games that are influencing Oceanhorn 2's level design, Claudio goes back to the titles he grew up with. "The first Oceanhorn was a top-down game and shared the core gameplay with many Action RPGs of the 90s. We are now working on a third-person game: the camera can be controlled, there are 360 degrees of freedom, and there's verticality in the level design. That means, for example, that we can add floors to buildings and dungeons, or hidden areas that would be impossible to create using other kinds of perspectives."

Pacing is another area where Claudio focuses his efforts. "I want to have a balance between exploration and action, and make sure the learning curve is approachable, adding gameplay elements bit by bit." But what makes a game feel fresh even after several hours? When a new mechanic is added, balance feels right if the player is allowed to experiment with it. As soon as the new mechanic is learned, the game gets slightly harder or mixes it with elements that have already been introduced. This design philosophy can be applied to everything: combat, puzzle, exploration. "I love the Diablo games, but the mechanics there are mostly built around combat: in Oceanhorn 2 we need to make sure there's enough of everything, and that it comes in the right order, while also revealing the story bit by bit."

Good examples of what Claudio means can be found in two of the most popular game IPs: Zelda and Metroid. "In those games, skills and mechanics keep stacking. The level structure usually follows a plot-exploration-boss template, which works really well. We've been inspired by the best."

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm is, in a sense, a "natural sequel" to the first Oceanhorn, as Ocarina of Time is a "natural sequel" to Link to the Past. "They are different games, of course, and Ocarina of Time deserves a special mention also because it changed how players interact with a 3D environment", says Claudio, "but in a way, both titles feel part of the same saga, and the pacing is what ties them together."

Claudio is also quick to add that there are other notable contributions to the Action RPGs space beside what Nintendo has been doing: less known titles such as Xak, Alundra, the Ys series, the Oasis series, Crusader of Centy, Terranigma, and others all have contributed to what Oceanhorn 2 is today. "When it comes to how the game looks", he concludes, "there's been a plethora of titles from the PS2 era that have informed Oceanhorn 2's style, but I think we owe something to Dawn of Mana, one of the sequels to Secret of Mana. That game looks still good today."

There's still one episode left in this Inspiration series – stay tuned for more!

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Tiger Cat by David H. Keller

Why Are PUBG Players Afraid Of Pochinki?

A question arises is that why most of the PUBG player afraid of Pochinki? What is the unique thing about it? What are the secrets in Pochinki? Everything will be revealed today.

At the first look Pochinki does not seem to be as much dangerous as it is in reality. Some reasons based on my experience that why most of the people avoid landing in Pochinki are : 

1. As Pochinki has a high number of houses, there is also a good number of campers. Campers are those players who get themselves hidden in a building and wait until someone enters the house to come into action. They remain hidden so it becomes difficult for other players to guess resulting in sudden attack and finally death.      
           

2. The availability of high loot makes most players land here. But the loot is not so good as because many guns including Kar98 and M24 is extremely rare to find there.

3. Most of the players landing in Pochinki are pro players. And they keep challenging each other to show that one is better than the other. Hence more aggressive debates.


         So these three are the points I consider as the reason behind the secret of Pochinki.
 Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Also, share the link https://sudragamer.blogspot.com/?m=1 for more interesting updates.

People Behind The Meeples - Episode 216: Jay Cormier

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Jay Cormier
Email:	jay@offthepagegames.com
Location:	Vancouver, BC, Canada
Day Job:	Video Production Specialist
Designing:	Over ten years!
Webpage:	www.offthepagegames.com
Blog:	inspirationtopublication.wordpress.com/
BGG:	Jay Cormier
Facebook:	Off the Page Games
Twitter:	@offthepagegames
YouTube:	Off The Page Games
Instagram:	@offthepagegames
Other:
Find my games at:	BGG, Game stores!

Today's Interview is with:

Jay Cormier
Interviewed on: 2/14/2020

The second interview this week is with Jay Cormier, who there is a good chance you've heard of! Jay has published over a dozen games with a bunch more coming up soon. Most of his games have been designed with his design partner Sen-Foong Lim, who I interviewed in 2017. Currently Jay is running a Kickstarter for his first self-published game, MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game", so check it out now!

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Over ten years!

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I think anyone that enjoys a creative medium and is also creative in some way will eventually find a way to contribute to that medium. So, I have always enjoyed playing games of all sorts since I was a kid. I was designing board games and video games as I grew up. It wasn't until the renaissance of the modern board game era where I felt drawn to contributing to this medium once more. I started playing modern board games in the early to mid 90's when Magic was first starting up. I got hooked on that game hard and loved it so much! That opened the door to all sorts of other games, and along side me the entire time was my best bud, Sen. He actually ushered me into all these games! Eventually we thought we could make a game. Why not? How hard could it be? So we sat down and made something...not a game per se...but something! It wasn't interesting and we couldn't figure out how to make it interesting so we slowly talked about it less and less. It wasn't until I moved super far away from Sen, to the other side of the country when we decided that we needed something to do together to stay in touch. We thought we'd give designing board games another go. This time it stuck and we haven't stopped!

What game or games are you currently working on?
MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game"

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Over a dozen! Belfort, Junk Art, Akrotiri, In the Hall of the Mountain King, D&D: Rock Paper Wizard, Zombie Slam, But Wait There's More, Train of Thought, Tortuga, Godfather: A New Don, Orphan Black: The Card Game, This Town Ain't Big Enough for the 2-4 Of Us, Djinn, and Tic Tac Moo

What is your day job?
Video Production Specialist

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
In my home, but I playtest games weekly at a game store.

Who do you normally game with?
I playtest with the Game Artisans of Canada, Vancouver chapter. Other than that, since I've had twins (3 years now), my regular gaming has subsided. Hopefully this will return once they're older - and they'll play with me!

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
I am definitely into the Cult of the New, so anything new and different. I also have a few escape room in a box games that I'd like to play!

And what snacks would you eat?
Hmmm...chips I guess! Can't go wrong with chips!

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Maybe quietly and in the background. I'd play some upbeat alternative type music.

What's your favorite FLGS?
Magic Stronghold in Vancouver because I'm there every week. They let us playtest our games and that's super supportive!

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Favourite? Hmmm...that changes a lot. I will always play Time's Up: Title Recall at a party. It's my favourite party game that never gets old. I love any game that's trying to do something different. Like Loony Quest or Detective.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
I love tile placing! Love it! I've loved Entdecker for a long time, and it was partly responsible for Akrotiri. Sen and I just said, let's make a tile laying game, since I loved them so much. I think they make me feel like I'm exploring and even in abstract games, they make it feel a lot more themey. Amerigo has polyomino tile laying and that's satisfying too! My least favourite is pick up and deliver, which is super funny because my absolute 2 favourite games that I've designed both have pick up and deliver (Akrotiri and In the Hall of the Mountain King). The thing I dislike about this mechanic is how slow it can be. I pick this up here and then next turn I move a few spaces, then the following turn I move a bit more and then finally I get to where I am going to deliver it. Very slow. For Akrotiri we made the traveling super fast by allowing players to move from dock to dock with only 1 action point. For In the Hall of the Mountain King, it's more of a resource management thing than the main objective. Do you have enough carts of the right colour to get your statues where they need to go?

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
Amerigo? I really love it, but haven't played it in awhile.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Video Games, Other Games?

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, Card Games, Other Games?

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
Hey, we had a lot of fun with it when it came out, but it got stale super fast. I'm disappointed with companies that make CAH rip-offs though.

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
Both - and more! Sometimes we've started with the title (like Train of Thought came first and we said - what would that game be about?). That said, I will say that any game idea that started with a mechanic first has had a much higher success rate than if it started with a theme first. It might be my brain, but I need to ensure there's something unique and different with how the game is played. That excites me more than saying Zombies in Space!

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
Entered and made it to the finals, but didn't win.

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
Oh there are a lot. Anyone that's trying new and different things. Phil Walker-Harding is always doing new and different things. Antoine Bauza has been pretty amazing with really creating the drafting mechanic as a game with 7 Wonders and then also creating Hanabi with the aspect of not being able to see your own cards. Both are so inventive!

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
From constantly brainstorming and keeping track of all ideas on a forum with my design partner Sen-Foong Lim! We'd come up with hundreds of ideas and eventually one of them would interest both of us and we're off to the races!

How do you go about playtesting your games?
I'm fortunate enough to have a weekly playtest group of other designers. It's amazing and I'd highly recommend designers to find other designers to playtest with to get really interesting and useful feedback.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
I've designed one game on my own: Draw Your Own Conclusions - that just came out from Grey Fox Games. Otherwise I've designed with a partner. Most with Sen-Foong Lim and then In the Hall of the Mountain King with Graeme Jahns. I have 2 more signed games that are each designed with a different partner as well.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Time. I'd just love to have more time. I'd love to be full time as a designer but it isn't feasible right now. I am able to be part time at my job job, which is 3 days a week, and then 2 days a week as a game designer, and that's awesome. Otherwise, I'd say playtesting. Even though I'm able to playtest weekly, I could easily playtest 2-3 times a week based on the number of designs I have going on at any one time. But then it goes back to also needing more time. With twin 3 year old boys at home, I can't be out every night playtesting!

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
Indiana Jones. Can you make this happen???

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
I've learned it since, but early on: Don't change the game based on every single piece of feedback you get. You're the designer. You make the call on what you should change or not. 100% you need to listen and make notes about the feedback you're getting, but it doesn't mean you have to act on everything.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Partner up. Sure you cut your royalties in half, but if money is the reason why you're getting into game design, then you're in the wrong field. It's just like being a writer. For every JK Rowling, there are a million other writers trying to get by. Find a partner who has the same passion and objectives that you do. Someone you can work with. Someone who can take feedback and work with it. Someone who will do half the work. This really helps when you're in a motivational rut. Your partner can pick up where you left off.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have:
Belfort
Belfort: The Expansion Expansion
Train of Thought
Tortuga
But Wait There's More
This Town Ain't Big Enough for the 2-4 Of Us
Akrotiri
Orphan Black: The Card Game
Godfather: A New Don
Junk Art
D&D: Rock Paper Wizard
D&D: RPW Fistful of Monsters
MIB: Undercover
Zombie Slam
Tic Tac Moo
Djinn
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Draw Your Own Conclusions

Games that will soon be published are:
MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game"
WWE: Headlock Paper Scissors
Belfort: Her Majesty's Civil Service
2 unannounced 'escape room in a box' games
Draw the Line
Godzilla Card Game
Complexcity

This is what I have currently crowdfunding: MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game" is from March 3rd to April 2nd
Currently looking for a publisher I have: Too many to list! :-)

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Tons!

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
I'm not much of a fan of either of the Star franchises, though I enjoyed parts 1 and 3 of the new Star Trek movies. I enjoy Diet Coke and I had a Betamax, but obviously had to switch to VHS so I could rent movies!

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Playing video games - especially 3rd person action games like Tomb Raider or Assassin's Creed. I love reading comics when I get the chance and movies are probably my biggest passion outside of games. My wife is continually amazed at how much I know about every movie, but still can't remember to take out the garbage.

What is something you learned in the last week?
Seeing that I'm less than 3 weeks away from running my first Kickstarter as a board game publisher (I ran one last year for the Fail Faster Playtesting Journal), I'm learning 10 new things a day - or more! This week? I learned about setting deadlines with your partners not just so you can get the content you need, but to also work in the schedules of other people that might be affected - like your graphic designer!!!

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Music: I like upbeat music! Books: Time travel is my favourite, but I love fast-paced stories with contemporary characters with either a thrilling concept or slightly unbelievable one! Movies: Almost anything, but I will say that I am much more a plot person than a 'let's explore this character' person. I love great characters and trying to understand their motivations, but I need a plot to keep it moving.

What was the last book you read?
I read 2-3 books a month (not counting comics). Currently I'm reading Unhappenings - which keeps getting better and better. It's not overly emotionally affecting me, but the plot is pretty awesome (time travel!)

Do you play any musical instruments?
I do not. I tried learning guitar once. Didn't work. So much effort to play an instrument. I would really love to when I'm older and have nothing to do!

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I have performed as a children's entertainer for over 20 years! I have my own character who tells stories and uses magic while getting the kids involved. It's been a lot of fun, but I have stopped performing as I'd rather be designing board games!

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I jumped out of an airplane! And - it was in the air at the time. :-) I did a tandem jump and it was fun. No need to really do it again, but I'm glad I did it!

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
I can't think of one!

Who is your idol?
Steve Martin. Besides being an amazing stand up comedian whose style was unique at the time (and was the first to sell out stadiums), he's also been an actor, playwright and award winning banjo player. I just love that he loves being creative.

What would you do if you had a time machine?
Depends on the science and consequences of my travels. If I'm a tourist, then I'd check out the future. Maybe see what games are popular in the future! :-)

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Extro all the way! :-)

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
Batman. While I don't want to have dead parents, I do like that he's smart and uses more than just muscle to stop crimes. I also like that he doesn't use guns. Spiderman would also be cool for similar reasons - plus he's funny!

Have any pets?
No, my wife is allergic to all pets!

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
I think a deck of cards would be good because they're so versatile!

If you'd like to send a shout out to anyone, anyone at all, here's your chance (I can't guarantee they'll read this though):
I'll shout out to my own publishing company, because I haven't mentioned them yet: Off the Page Games! www.offthepagegames.com With this company I'm publishing MIND MGMT: The Psychic Espionage "Game"!

Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

I mentioned it briefly, but I also designed the Fail Faster Playtesting Journal which is available here: www.failfaster.ca if you want the pdf form, or here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/parts/fail-faster-playtesting-journal - if you want the physical journal

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Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

Did you like this interview?  Please show your support: Support me on Patreon! Or click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

Walton's Tongue And Groove Potting Shed

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HOTT 52 - Battle 4 - Attack On An'Burkag's Encampment

I fought my HOTT 52 Week 4 battle over lunch today and had a blast! I tried out the Magician unit for the first time. After the battle report, I'll give you my thoughts on this unit and how it plays out.

To create my armies I have tables that represent armies when they're all militia, all regular/professional, or a mix of the two. Regular armies have (more) elements like heroes, magicians, blades and knights. Militia armies have more of riders, warbands, spears and hordes, plus the cleric that sees to the needs of the common folk pressed into service!

This battle, I wanted to mix it up, so I rolled randomly for regular/militia or militia/regular, then rolled to see which exact army was to be used. The human army would be a militia/regular army. The Orc army, led by the War Chief An'Burkag, would be regular/militia.

Humans General/Spear x1 (2 AP) Spears x3 (6 AP) Shooters x2 (4 AP) Riders x2 (4 AP) Knights x2 (4 AP) Blades x2 (4 AP)

Orcs General/Knights x1 (2 AP) Knights x1 (2 AP) Blades x4 (8 AP) Spear x2 (4 AP) Shooters x2 (4 AP) Magician x1 (4 AP)

The orcs were supposed to have Spear x3 and Hordes x2, but I swapped them out for the Orc Shaman as my Magician experiment.





The orcs lined up outside of their camp, howling and cursing at the humans who appeared on the horizon. They anchored their right flank with an impassable hill.

The human commander put her knights and riders on the flanks with the intent of sending the speedy riders to threaten the stronghold or Orc reserves.



The Orc Shaman Oz'turk, seeing the hateful Human Knights to their left, moved over to that flank, preparing foul spells to cast at them. Meanwhile, An'Burkag detailed a unit of Orc Spears to line up with him to prevent the Human Riders from flanking them or attacking their camp!



The Human army rolled down on top of the orc defense and pushed them all back!



Undaunted, the orcs and goblins gnashed their teeth, gripped their cold iron weapons and charged back at the humans, pushing them back!

(It was an amazing story the dice told! Every orc unit on the line recoiled when it was the human's bound, and almost the same in reverse when it was the orc's bound!)



The human knights, seeing a potential trap, charged at the flanking Orc knights. With nowhere to go, the retreating Orc Knights crashed into the melee between goblin and human archers. The unit broke up! Unfortunately, the impetuous Human knights made a mistake in turning to attack the Orc Shaman. When they attacked, they were overcome by his foul magicks!

(In HOTT, if a Knight (Kn) attacks a Magician and suffers a minor defeat in that same bound, they are destroyed! I had to reread that rule several times to make sure I understood it. It's subtle in the wording... if the Magician had charged/initiated contact, then the way the rule reads, the Kn would not have been destroyed!)



The Orcs also protected their rear/right flank, with the Orc spear destroying the light Rider cavalry. The orc line, however, suffered several defeats and began to fragment.



The human army pressed their advantage and pushed the orcs back. Warchief An'Burkag raced to reinforce the line and the Shaman Oz'turk rained spells and curses on both the flanking knights and units in the humans army, but they had little effect.



In the end, the orcs were unable to mount a serious defense and An'Burkag was forced to sound the horns of retreat. The humans marched upon the remains of the camp and burned it all to the ground, celebrating a hard fought victory!

Orcs: 12AP lost, Humans: 8 AP lost.

---

I rolled quite a few 6 to 1 combat rolls, in favor of the humans, which almost always spells defeat for the orcs. Once the line developed gaps, the bonuses for overlaps from the intact human line spelled the story out. Which was surprising, as the defeats on the flank really blunted whatever advantage I thought the humans would need.

So.. the Magician unit. Fun! It's basically an advanced artillery unit, being able to launch spells at 3x the distance of shooters, a little further than regular artillery. It does require PIPs though, so it requires a choice to be made between moving a unit or two, or using spells. Unfortunately, out of 4 attempts at a spell, only one had any sort of effect (a recoil), so the results weren't as good as I hoped. I was taken by surprise at the result of the Magician killing the Knight unit, though! I'll remember that for the future.

I don't know how this would have turned out if the Orcs had kept their Hordes and extra Spear unit, but it was a fun element to play with. Now I need to try a Cleric... and I need to buy 15mm human Wizards and Clerics! I don't have any!

PS. If you're curious about my force composition tables, as well as how I conduct my fantasy wargames campaigns, here's a link to my rules. https://drive.google.com/open?id=18CUi40wW6OSm4FhTzdOoH-ct0NxW9jImGyF-okiMOrk

Game 360: Quest For Power (1981)

Problem #1: Nothing Arthur or Galahad did was done "for power."

         

Quest for Power

United States

Crystalware (developer and original publisher); Epyx (later publisher)

Released in 1981 for Atari 800 and Apple II. Rereleased in 1982 as King Arthur's Heir

Date Started: 5 March 2020

Date Finished: 5 March 2020

Total Hours: 1

Difficulty: Very Easy (1/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

           

Quest for Power is another insulting game from Crystalware, a company that was either knowingly scamming its customers or so clueless about what made a good game that they must have never played one. I admit that their titles at least sound interesting--I was sucked in by the backstory of House of Usher (1980), for instance--but if anything they've gotten progressively worse as time passed, losing core elements that made them, if not "good," at least memorable. A commenter named Tronix recently posted some background on the company, and while we can't take an anonymous Internet comment as gospel, what he says makes sense given the quality of the games. I'm particularly disturbed about the part where they "skipped town" while still owing money to a lot of developers. I hope the developer of this game, Marc Benioff, managed to recover.

There isn't much to say about Quest for Power. Like the other Benioff/Crystalware collaboration, The Forgotten Island (1981), it's a short adventure with a few light RPG elements, recalling in structure the old Adventure for the Atari 2600 (1979). It takes about as long to play and win the game as to read the manual, and the lengths that Epyx went through to puff up the manual for the re-release (as King Arthur's Heir) are particularly absurd given the paucity of actual gameplay. 

           

You have to have several artifacts before you enter Canterbury.

           

The backstory casts you as Sir Galahad, son of Arthur's "good friend" Lancelot, who Arthur designates as his heir to the English throne if he can find and return the Scroll of Truth, which Merlin has hidden somewhere on the island. Good lord, that sentence alone manages to mangle the Arthurian legends in about a dozen different ways. The whole point of Galahad's story--in the few sources where he actually appears--is that he's too pure for the mortal world, and he is taken bodily into heaven at the end of the Grail Quest. Arthur and Lancelot are hardly "friends" by the end of Arthur's reign; Merlin should be long gone; and the realm wouldn't be known as "England" for over 400 years.

              

There are several places to buy necessities. This particular list makes it look like I'm about to murder someone and then dump the body off-shore.

            

Your little icon sets out from Camelot to explore the land, which I guess is roughly shaped like Britain except that for some reason it's surrounded by a wall. Your journey will take you to the Caves of Somerset, Hastings Mountain, Sunderland, Essex, the Castle of Skenfrith, the Black Forest, the Eagle Stone, Canterbury, Hillsborough by the Sea, and Leeds. (Of these, only Canterbury has any authentic Arthurian history. "Hastings Mountain" doesn't even exist.) The manual makes it sound like these are all exotic and interesting places to explore, but really they're just names written across the screen with maybe one NPC and a treasure item.

           

This would have made World War II a lot easier.

        

To win the game, you have to defeat a series of enemies (The Devil of Skenfrith Castle, the Black Wizard, Gogmagog--none of them appear in actual Arthuriana) and acquire a series of treasures. For instance, you explore the Caves of Somerset to find the key to Essex, where you find Moses's Rod (where's Kenny when you need him?), and so forth. The enemies named in those parentheses, plus a couple of dragons, are the only fights in the game.

             

Canonically, Galahad could probably do this.

          

Combat is a matter of random rolls. Each round, each fighter does 1-9 points of base damage against the enemy but each round, one of the two combatants gets 10 added to his roll. For instance, you might take 7 damage while doing 19 in the first round, but in the second the Black Wizard gets the bonus and does 15 damage to you versus your 3 damage to him.

                

Looks like I got lucky this round.

              

As you start off with only 3 hit points, the first combat--whoever you fight it with--is a risk. But if you can win, you'll gain enough power and extra hit points that further combats become much easier. After your second or third combat, you're basically invincible.

         

In battle against Gogmagog.

        

Gold chests pop up randomly as you explore, and there are a few places where you can spend your gold on an axe, a rope, and a boat. There are three NPCs (Ambrosius, Amadas, and some random guy in Essex Castle) who give you spectacularly unnecessary hints, and one of them must be bribed over 1,000 gold for his. 

    

I'm sure I would have found it on my own anyway.

      

Once you've found enough artifacts and have built up enough power from killing enemies, the guard Oberion (facepalm) will let you into Canterbury. There, you find the Ark of the Covenant. If you open it without the three major artifacts (Anselm's Staff, Solomon's Ring, and Moses's Rod), you'll be melted in the manner of the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. With the three artifacts, you find the Scroll of Truth.

Completing my quest.

Granted, I had the emulator speed cranked up to 250%, but it still only took me about 20 minutes to run around the map and do what I needed to do. The game minimizes its control scheme; the manual actually brags about this. All action is mapped to the joystick except for the (T)rade command. If you have certain items (torch, boat, rope), you're assumed to use them when the situation calls for it.

Returning the Scroll of Truth to Camelot wins the game. You get a picture of the throne room at Camelot and your score is displayed.

            

You can tell it's Camelot by the "C" on the banners.

           

But of course it doesn't end there. As with half of Crystalware's titles, there's supposedly a Great Mystery lurking beneath the surface, with players encouraged to solve it and send their solutions to the company, with promises of a $250 cash prize. (The Epyx re-release removes any mention of such a puzzle.) As usual, I not only didn't solve it, I don't even know what they're talking about. Is it something you're supposed to find in the game? A hidden message? Is it simply winning the game? 

                

Can anyone identify the source of the image Crystalware used? Reverse image searches were no help.

       

The manual says that to solve the mystery, you must a) read the entire manual, b) "go to each of the magical places and talk to all of the magical people." "It is then," the manual says, "you may understand the very neurotic mystery." Did the author not know what "neurotic" means, or is that a clue?

              

I wonder if they paid anyone.

          

The only three people to talk with in the game are Ambrosius, Amadas, and the guy at Essex. Amadas, at Hastings Mountain, says that "you must have Solomon's Ring and Anselm's Staff and Gogmagog to make it past Oberion!" (Once you defeat Gogmagog, his power "fuses" with you or something.)  Ambrosius is hanging out by something called the Eagle Stone, and he says, "Ah, son of Arthur [???], the staff is in the caves." Essex says, "The Ring of Solomon is in the Skenfrith Castle." I've looked for anagrams, initialisms, and other wordplay and can't find anything. Thus, I'll give a reward of $50 to whoever can solve the mystery, which is five times the value of the GIMLET I gave to Quest for Power. It's the first game so far with 1s straight across the board.

*****

Let's talk about how we got so far down the list:

     

1. I'm having trouble with Planet's Edge (1991). The introductory application starts up okay, but every time I hit ESC to move on, DOSBox crashes with a "corrupt MCB chain" error. I've tried multiple versions. I've tried running INSTALL and configuring video and sound different ways. I've tried running it with LOADFIX. I have not tried another computer with a different configuration of DOSBox, which I will next week after I move.

2. Minotaur: Labyrinths of Crete (1992) turns out to be a two-player game. (You're supposed to connect over AppleTalk.) There's a "single-player mode," but it just lets you explore the dungeon, pick up items, and test them, not play in any meaningful way. It moves to the rejection list.

            

Wandering the Minotaur dungeon.

             

3. I thought I had a working copy of OrbQuest from reader Lance M., but I lost it or never downloaded it or something. I had to ask him for it again. He came through, but I had already half-drafted this entry by then. It'll be soon.

4. I'm moving this week, so I didn't have time to approach a game as complicated as Ultima VII.

     

Anyway, this means I need two more games to add to the "upcoming" list, replacing both Quest for Power and Minotaur. The earliest game on my list that I haven't played is Sands of Mars (1981), another Crystalware title. We have three more, in fact, and I think I'm going to try to cover them all in one entry, but we'll leave it as Sands of Mars for now. After that comes a random roll! It lands on Moraff's Dungeons of the Unforgiven (1993). For those worried that I'm going to get too far away from 1992 before playing Might and Magic IV/V, don't worry--we're going to have a discussion next week about designating "landmark" games that I should prioritize in a given year.